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Filed May 25, 1964; f5 .Shee'w-Sheet JOHN R. WILLIAMS im @Mm ATTORNEYSJ. R. WILLIAMS HOLLOW PANEL Aww 4, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 25,1964 I NVENTOR.

JOHN R. WILLIAMS www ATTORNEYS April 4, 19a? Filed May 25, 1964 J. R.WILMAMS 3,312,033

HOLLOW .PANELv 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 'INVENTOR JOHN R. WILLIAMS ATTORNEYSUnited States Patent Olice Patented Apr. 4, 1967 3,312,033 HLLUW PANELJohn R. Williams, Hayward, Calif., assigner to Utah Construction d:Mining Co., San Francisco, Calit., a corporation of Delaware Filed May25, 1964, Ser. No. 369,888 1l Claims. (El. 52-615) This inventionrelates gener-ally to 'hollow panels and more particularly to hollowpanels suitable for use as oor and wall members in modular,prefabricated or other types of buildings, for concrete forms, and forother applications in which lightweight, inexpensive panel units arerequired. The invention relates more particularly to high strengthpanels which are adapted to be supported at spaced points such as at thecorners.

Hollow panels including a rectangular frame provided with spaced frontand back walls or faces, often referred to as skins, and a core areknown and are in general use. The cores have been of honeycombconstruction, foam plastic or braced construction.

The forces applied to the faces of this type of panel are, in general,distributed equally along the edges or frame of the panel. The panelsare generally supported along their entire edges whereby the distributedforces are accommodated.

In my copending application Ser., No. 315,172, filed Oct. 10, 1963, nowPatent Number 3,168,772, there is described a concrete form systememploying panels secured to one another in edgewise abuttingrelationship and including tie assemblies which extend through thespaced walls to engage vertical studs placed outside of the walls.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a -panel in whichthe forces applied to the face ot Athe panel are concentrated atpredetermined points on the panel, for example, at the corners of asquare panel and the corners and intermediate points along the long edgeof a rectangular panel. This makes it possible to support the panelsolely at these support points. For example, in concrete formingsystems, the vertical studs may be eliminated by the use of such panels.

It is a general object ot the present invention to provide an improvedpanel structure.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a panel inwhich the forces applied to the faces are concentrated at supportpoints.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an inexpensiveand simple panel.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a panelwhich is strong and light.

These and other objects of the invention will become more clearlyapparent from the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawing.

Referring to the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a panel adapted for concreteconstruction with portions broken away to more clearly show the corners;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view of a rectangular panel for concreteconstruction;

FIGURE 3 shows schematically how the panels of the invention areemployed in a concrete forming system;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged view of a corner of a panel taken along the line4 4. of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged edge views of a corner of the panel;

FIGURE 6 shows the internal construction of a typical anel; p FIGURE 7shows another internal construction for a anel; p FIGURE 8 shows anelongated rectangular panel including a slot at the center of the longedges;

FIGURE 9 is a sectional View taken along the line 9-9 of FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 10 is an elevational view taken on section lines lil-lll ofFIGURE 6 with modified ribs and showing a panel having cambered faces.

Referring to FIGURE 1, the panel is illustrated as being broken away atthe center portions whereby the corners thereof are shown in betterdetail.` The panel includes a generally rectangular frame 11 providedwith spaced walls or skins 12 and 13 secured thereto as, for example, bygluing, `to define the hollow panel. Each of the corners of the panelincludes slots 14, to be presently described in detail. The `corners ofthe panels are lbevelled 16 to define with adjacent panels a recess orfor the reception of support means, for example, a tie rod assembly,when -panels of this type are used in concrete forming construction. Itis to be understood that when the panels are used in conventionalconstruction wherein there is no requirement for the support mean-s toextend through the panels, the corners may be square whereby there is norecess defined when adjoining panelsuare abutted to one another.

In FIGURE 2, a panel similar to that of FIG-URE 1 is shown. However, thepanel is seen to be rectangular with a locking slot 21 formed along thebroad sides of the panel 22.

FIGURE 3 illustrates the use of panels of this type in a concrete formsystem. T-he form system illustrated includes spaced walls 26 and 27between which the concrete is poured. The walls are formed by panelswhich are maintained in spaced relationship with respect to one anotherby a tie rod assembly designated generally by the reference numeral 28.The assembly includes a tie 29 which threadably receives at oppositeends cones 31 and 32. The ends of the cones are provided with squareshanks 33 which are accommodated within the recess formed betweenadjacent and cooperating panels, for example, the recess 34. The largeend of the cones each threadably receives an extension bolt 36 whichextends through a plate 3'7. When the enlarged round end of the cone islarger than the square shank, tightening of the bolt serves to clamp thepanel against the large end of the adjacent cone. Referring to thefigure, tightening of the bolt 36 brings the face of the panel 26against the large end 38 of the cone 31.

Disposed in the slots formed by the cooperating slots 14 of the abuttingpanels forming the lower portion of the wall 26 of the intermediate slot21, there is a locking element di. The locking element includes anelongated slot l2 which passes over the bolt 36 and four slots 43 whichengage pins 46 which are disposed in the panel and extend across theslots whereby the locking element 41 serves to lock the adjacent panelsto one another so that panels abutting in edgewise relationship cannotseparate. The locking element further serves to lock the panels so thatthey cannot move laterally with respect to one another, that is, thepanels are maintained substantially in alignment. The foregoing type ofconcrete form assembly is described in my copending application referredto above and will not be described further in this application.

It is observed that the walls are supported primarily at the corners ofthe panels and at the center of the lon-g edges of a rectangular panel.The pressure of the concrete outwardly against the walls is over thetotal face of the wall. In accordance with the present invention, meansare provided to substantially transfer the entire force to the supportpoints at the corner of the panels and intermediate the same whereby tominimize bulging of the panel and permit the sole support to be arrangedat said support points.

As previously described, and more particularly de- :ribed in mycopending application, the panels used in 1e prior art for concreteforming, for building con- .ruction and the like have, in general,included a core rrangement, such as cellular bracing, or an expandedlastic filler. In accordance with the present invention, 1e core isformed of a plurality of spaced non-interacting ribs which serve totransfer forces to the corners r support points of the panel.

Referring more particularly to FIGURE 6 wherein ke reference numeralsare applied to parts like FIG- IRE 1, the skin 13 is partly broken awayto show the iterior construction of the panel. The panel includes pairof crossed struts I and 52, each of which exands ybetween oppositecorners of the panel. In each of 1e sectors defined Ibetween thesestruts, there are placed plurality of spaced bowed ribs. The ends of theribs re tangent to the struts S1 and 52 at the corners. Thus, 1eplurality of bows 53, 54 and 55 are placed in the actor 56. Generally,the bows may be spaced equally. lny force applied in the sector 56 willthen be primarily ansferred along these ribs to the two adjacent corners7 and 58. Similarly, forces exerted on any other scc- Jr of the panelwill be transferred to the adjacent corers.

The construction might, for example, comprise struts 1 and 52 made of3A: inch plywood material, whiie the ows or ribs 53, 54 and 55 may bemade of 1A; inch plylood material.

If it is desired to provide air communication between 1e varioussectors, each of the bows may be drilled out. t further advantage ofdrilling out an dremoving ma- :rial from the bows is to provide a muchlighter panel /hile retaining the structural strength of the edgewiserrangement of the ribs wit-hin the panel structure.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged view of a corner showing he various ribs comingto the corner and then extending angent'ially away from the corner.

The slots at the edges of the panel are formed by first utting out arelatively large slot in the bows and struts nd subsequently inserting asolid block of material 6l /hich is then cut out to provide a smallerslot 62 for he reception of the locking element il previously decribed.Referring to FIGURE 5, the smaller slot 62 is hown formed in the blockmaterial 6L A pin 63 is hown extending through the slot to engage withthe lots 43 formed in a locking element 41 of the type pre- 'iouslydescribed.

Referring to FIGURE 7, there is shown another panel ncludingnon-intersecting spaced ribs. The ribs extend letween a corner and adiagonal strut which transfers he forces to the corners with which it isassociated.

In the embodiment of FIGURE 7, each of the ribs i6 has one end securedto a corner such as 67, and the ther end secured at 69 to a strut 68which may be in he -form of an I-beam such as shown in FIGURE 9. .Thestrut has substantial stiffness in comparison to the ibs 66.

For-ces applied to any given sector are then transferred tlong the ribsto the corner 67 and at the other end of he ribs to the strut 68, andthence to the adjacent corner l0. Thus, pressure in any one of thesectors again will )e transferred to adjacent corners-to one corner di-'ectly along the ribs, to the other corner from the ribs, `o the strutand thence to the corner.

As before, a solid slotted insert 71 is provided to ac- :ommodate pins72 for locking adjacent panels to one another through a locking element,such as 41.

A rectangular panel such as that shown in FIGURE 2 nay be made byjoining together two core assemblies of ;he type shown in FIGURES 6 for7, `such as illustrated n FIGURE 8, and then applying outer skins '73. Arectangular fname extends along all `of the other outer edges. Atransverse element 74 is formed by the corresponding frame members. Asbefore, the panel illustrated includes non-intersecting ribs 66 eachhaving one end affixed to a strut 63 and the other end to a corner aspreviously described. Forces in any sector will be transferred to theopposite edges at the intermediate points 76 or to the corners.

At the intermediate points, a solid slotted block 77 is provided toreceive a locking element in the manner previously described. The outercorners are formed in the manner described with respect to FIGURES 6 and7 and will not be described in further detail.

When panels of the type illustrated are used with relatively heavyloads, they may tend to bulge. In order to maintain a planar face on the`side on which the forces are being applied, it may be desirable tocompensate for the bulging by forming cambered faces. `Referring moreparticularly to FIGURE l0, there is shown a sectional view-of a panelsuch as the panel shown in FIGURE 6. It is seen that the ribs 53, 54;',and 55 are formed with a greater width at the center. The width at thecenter of adjacent ribs is progressively greater toward the center ofthe panel. In the panel illustrated, the width on the upper part 8l ofthe rib 54 increase more than the width on the lower part 82. The otherribs are formed in a similar manner whereby the upper surface 83 of thepanel will have a substantially greater camber than the lower surface 84of the panel. As a result, the upper face will serve to accommodate muchgreater forces than the lower face.

In other respects, the panel is similar to those described includingside frames and corner locks of the type previously described.

Similarly, the panel having the internal construction shown in FIGURE 7may be formed wherein `again each of the ribs is formed with a greaterwidth at the ycenter of the panel than at the edges of the same.

Thus, there has been provided a panel which is light in construction andformed and adapted to transfer forces from any portion of the panel toadjacent corners which are then used to form the sole support for thepanel.

I claim:

l. A panel comprising a rectangular fname, spaced skins secured toopposite sides of said frame to define a hollow panel, a plurality ofnon-intersecting ribs extending adjacent one another and having theiredges secured to said skins, said ribs having at least one end meetingat a corner of said panel to transfer forces applied to the skins alongthe ribs to the corner, said ribs spreading away from one another awayfrom the corner, :and means at the other end of said ribs fortransferring along the ribs forces applied to said skins to an adjacentsupport point.

2. A panel as in claim l in which said last named means comprises `astrut having one end extending to the support point, the other end ofsaid ribs being `secured to the strut.

3. A panel as in claim l wherein said last named means comprises theends of said ribs meeting at the adjacent support point.

4. A panel as in claim 1 wherein the ends lof said ribs includeprojecting finger portions defining a slot, and a support block disposedin said slot.

5. A `panel as in claim l in which the corners y.of said panel arebevelled.

6. A panel comprising a rectangular frame, spaced skins secured to theopposite sides of said frame to define` .a hollow panel, a pair ofcrossed struts extending between opposite corners of said frame andldefining a plurality of sectors within said frame, a plurality ofspaced non-intersecting bowed ribs extending between adjacent corners ineach of said sectors, the ends of ribs of adjacent sectors being securedto one another and to the corner of said frame whereby forces applied tothe skin of said panel are transferred along the ribs and struts toadjacent corners.

'7. A panel comprising a rectangular frame, spaced skins secured to theopposite sides of said frame to define a hollow panel, a diagonal strutextending between a pair of opposite corners of said frame, a pluralityof spaced non-intersecting ribs having one end joined to one an- :otherat another of said corners and the other end secured to said strutwhereby forces applied to the faces of the panel ,are transferred to thecorner along the ribs and along the ribs and strut to an adjacentcorner.

8. A panel comprising a rectangular frame, spaced skins secured toopposite sides of said frame to dene a hollow panel, a plurality ofnon-intersecting ribs extending adjacent one another and having theiredges secured to said skins, said ribs having at least one end meetingat a corner of said panel to transfer forces applied to the skins alongthe ribs to the corner, said ribs spreading away from one another awayfrom the corner each of `said ribs having a Width which is greatertoward the center of the panel than at the edge whereby said skins areca'mbered, and means for transferring along the ribs forces applied tosaid skins to adjacent support point.

9. A panel comprising a plurality of reinforcing ribs, a rectangularframe secured to the ends of said ribs, said ribs having a widthsubstantially equal to the lwidth of said `frame where the frame issecured thereto and increasing in Width toward the center of the ribsand the center -of the panel in both directions, and a skin applied toat least one edge of said ribs and. said fname, said skin being convexdue to the increase in width of said ribs.

10. A panel as in cl-aim 9 `wherein a skin is applied to each side ofsaid ribs and frame to form a closed panel.

11. A panel as in claim 10 where the width on one side of the centerline through the ribs increases more on one side than the other wherebyto provide va greater camber on one face of said panel than on theother.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,109,009 2/1938Hadley 52-381 HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Primary Examiner. P. M. CAUN,Assistant Examiner.

1. A PANEL COMPRISING A RECTANGULAR FRAME, SPACED SKINS SECURED TOOPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID FRAME TO DEFINE A HOLLOW PANEL, A PLURALITY OFNON-INTERSECTING RIBS EXTENDING ADJACENT ONE ANOTHER AND HAVING THEIREDGES SECURED TO SAID SKINS, SAID RIBS HAVING AT LEAST ONE END MEETINGAT A CORNER OF SAID PANEL TO TRANSFER FORCES APPLIED TO THE SKINS ALONGTHE RIBS TO THE CORNER, SAID RIBS SPREADING AWAY FROM ONE ANOTHER AWAYFROM THE CORNER, AND MEANS AT THE OTHER END OF SAID RIBS FORTRANSFERRING ALONG THE RIBS FORCES APPLIED TO SAID SKINS TO AN ADJACENTSUPPORT POINT.